Cadmus Order 66
by RubberDuckyYou'reTheOne
Summary: The only difference between the hunt of the heroes and the hunt of the villains was that, when it came to the bad guys, they called it what it was: execution. Wally, Dick, Barbara, M'gaan, Tim, Steph, Bruce, Damian, Bart, Cassandra, Artemis, Iris, Barry, Dawn, Don, and the League of Assassins (A.K.A the people in the family everyone would rather we all just forgot about).
1. Chapter 1

Cadmus Operation 66 wasn't just for the literal meta-humans; those who simply donned a mask went into hiding with them. Of course, the directive of the order wasn't for people to go into hiding. It was for them all to be "apprehended." At least, that was the word Waller had given the public, anyway. The heroes knew what she really meant.

The government tracked down all the villains, too. They even got Lex Luthor, on tax evasion of all things. The fact that he didn't get a trial probably helped.

The only difference between the hunt of the heroes and the hunt of the villains was that, when it came to the bad guys, they called it what it was: execution.

Superman turned himself over willingly, boy-scout that he was. His reasoning was that a show of good faith would make them go easier; and even if it didn't, he still had that Kryptonian invincibility, so they couldn't kill him. Only, he didn't know about the vast stores of Kryptonite the government had. Cadmus had managed to get enough to make an entire facility out of it. No one heard from Superman after that.

Gotham and Central were the last cities to allow the soldiers onto their streets. Gotham had fought through the common folk protesting, and Commissioner Gordon holding the government off through a mix of the police force and bureaucratic red tape. Even then, they only lasted two weeks against Cadmus. Gordon tried to be their inside man, and help the Bats get away before the task force struck next, but he was caught after a month. Barbara wouldn't talk for a week when she found out.

Central City fought back by hiding the Flashes in their respective houses, but after the fifth family was arrested for helping them, they fled to the Watch Tower.

The only people who survived were the Bats, the Flashes, the Atlantians, The League of Shadows, and M'gaan. The Bats because, well, they were all trained by Batman; the Flashes because they were too fast to catch; The Atlantians because they were technically a sovereign nation; The League because they were all scary ninja assassins, and traveled in huge packs; and M'gaan because the government's Martian detection systems weren't calibrated for White Martians.

On the last meeting of the Justice League (and the Team) everyone paired up before they all went radio silent. It wasn't the smartest move, strategically, but not even Batman argued. Misery loves company, after all.


	2. Chapter 1 (Part One)

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short; it's actually one of my longer ones, but my stupid computer won't let me upload more than this, so it ends kind've oddly. Sometimes, I think we might have been better off without technology. The next chapter is basically the rest of this one. Second, to the (only) person who reviewed: Umm... thanks? That was really weird, and you kind've did the exact same thing on one of my other stories, and it was really weird, and it wasn't actually a review, and it was really, really weird, but... thanks?Third, if anyone could tell me if i got M'gaan's last name right, that would be great. Okay, on with the show!

Barry Allen, Iris West, the twins, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Wally West, Bart Allen, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, Damien Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and M'gaan M'oorz were all gathered on the Watch Tower, planning who would go where, and speculating about those who were unaccounted for.

Dick spoke up first. "I think we can all agree that the Green Lanterns were recalled before they could be captured, otherwise Oa would have taken a bigger interest in what is happening here."

Wally nodded. "I don't think they really care about our planetary politics; they don't really have an effect on their entire sector."

"That won't stop Hal and John from trying to get help from the other Green Lanterns," Barry pointed out.

Bruce frowned. "We can't rely on their help. The Guardians of Oa won't interfere."

Barbara agreed with him. "At least, not soon enough to make a difference. I can only think of two other groups that may have been exempt from the manhunt, unfortunately. The Atlantians retreated back underwater the moment this started, I think, and Cadmus hasn't been able to convince the Senate to allow them to infiltrate sovereign nations yet to enforce their new law."

"So who's the other group that made it out?" Bart asked.

"Dr. Fate and Zatanna," Bruce said. "They would have retreated to the Tower of Fate."

Dick seemed to relax a fraction at the thought of Zatanna being safe. "Is there anyone else we don't know for sure was captured?"

"I didn't hear anything about Red Hood, and I know that he had Arsenal and Starfire with him. They wouldn't have left him behind, no matter what, and not even Cadmus could have captured Starfire. She's the most powerful alien on the planet after Superman and Manhunter."

Stephanie threw up her hands. "That doesn't exactly help us. Jason won't join up with us for anything."

M'gaan shook her head. "I don't know about that; I mean, we're all in the same boat here, right?"

Damien snorted. "Being in the same boat does not justify helping each other. You don't see us running to help the League of Assassins."

Wally tensed at the mention of it. Cassandra, being the expert of body language that she was, noticed and said, "Why you upset?"

Everyone looked at him, and he sighed. "Artemis. Her Dad and her sister kidnapped her a few days ago; took her to hide with the Shadows. I'm happy that she's safe, but…"

Iris placed a hand on his shoulder. "But she's not here with you."

Wally smiled tightly. "She fought for her family to take me with them, but I eventually helped get her out of our apartment."

The twins noticed his sadness and ran to clutch the legs of their favorite cousin. Wally crouched down and picked them up, settling them on his hips. Dawn grabbed his hair and pulled, causing him to yelp. Everyone chuckled a little at the cute scene.

Wally spoke up about another group. "I think maybe… Red Star is still out there, in Russia. They haven't allowed Cadmus inside their borders yet, and even if they do, there's still 6.6 million miles of mostly empty tundra to search through."

Barry looked confused. "Who's Red Star?"

Wally explained to him. "Like Captain Atom but with less containment suit-ness and more human-ness. He was part of the Titan initiative."

Few people beyond Wally and Dick had any knowledge of it; the only other people who knew were Bruce, because he was, well, Batman, and Barbara because her insatiable curiosity had lead to her hacking the Titan's systems to find out more about it.

Wally wasn't done yet. "Raven, Jericho, and Herald disappeared into another dimension with most of the team when Cadmus broke into Titan's Tower. Some people got captured immediately, and some people like me stayed to fight them off while the other's escaped. Red Star, Donna, Wonder Girl, Superboy and I held our own for a while, but they eventually got to Superboy with Kryptonite. We decided to retreat after that; everyone else had gotten away with Herald. Donna and Wonder Girl left for Themyscira, saying that Wonder Woman had already made it there. I ran here."

Tim released the breath he'd been holding. "So most of the Titans got away?"

Dick nodded. "Yeah, but unless you guys can travel between dimensions, they won't be of much help, either."

Bruce called their attention back to the matter at hand. "We need to decide who's going with who, and where they're going."

"We should also figure out a way to communicate with each other. Or at least a place to meet up after some time. Trust me, " Bart said after seeing the look on Bruce's face. "You'll regret not doing it once you're out there, all alone. In my time, they never even managed to hack the comm systems."

"Yeah, but that was the Reach. This is much different than your apocalypse; the U.S. government will know how to find us better than the Reach. And everyone on the planet was affected in your time. Now it's just us hiding. It's a whole different ball game" Tim pointed out.

"Let's just figure out who's going with who first, then we can worry about that." Dick said.

Barry and Iris spoke up first. "We'll be splitting up. Iris will take Dawn, and I'll take Don. The twin's haven't figured out how to regulate their powers yet, and keeping them together would be too much of a risk."

"I'll go with Aunt Iris, and Bart can go with Barry." Wally volunteered.

Bruce nodded in agreement. "Damien and I will be traveling together."

"I go with father." Cassandra said in her halting speech.

Stephanie gasped. "Cass, are you sure? You… I mean, your Dad will…"

Cassandra nodded. "He called me. Said Ra's will forgive past, if I go and serve."

It was Bruce, surprisingly, who came up and put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do this; you could make it with one of us."

Cassandra smiled up at him, surprising him with a hug. "I'm sure. And," she said, looking at Wally, "I find Artemis. We help each other."

Wally looked slightly relieved at the thought of Artemis having an ally in the Shadows other than her insane family members. Although, Cheshire had become slightly more… was mellow the right word? After Lian was born. Unfortunately, that also meant that she was twice as unpredictable, so again; nice to have an ally.

Stephanie and Tim stepped closer together. "We'll go together." They said in unison.

Barbara coughed delicately. Bruce eyed his adoptive son with something akin to suspicion. Dick was nowhere near as subtle.

"Steph and Timmy, sitting in a tree…"

Tim crossed his arms. "Seriously? We're facing capture/torture/execution by Amanda Waller, and you're worried about us being together unsupervised?!"

Dick grinned. "Hey, nothing's more important than my little bro's virtue."

Tim blushed and stuttered, but Stephanie was slightly more composed. "Oh, like you and Barbara are any less obvious."

Dick's eyes widened slightly, and he waved his hands in front of him. "Oh, no way? Me and Babs would never!"

Barbara looked slightly smug. "And besides, we're both two perfectly legal, consenting adults."

Everybody froze at that thought. Wally coughed, trying to cover up his laugh at his friends antics and gestured to Dick and his totally-not-his-girlfriend partner in crime. "I take it the two pranksters will be traveling together?"

Dick nodded. "And of course, M'gaan will come with us."

M'gaan looked a little surprised. Barbara looked at her. "We wouldn't forget you, or let you go off on your own, ever. Heroes have to stick together."

She smiled, suddenly feeling less out of place here.

Dick went over to the computer, pulling up a map of the Earth, and pointed out the places that would be best to hide.

"The Flash families should stay state-side; they'd blend better. Barry, you guys will be going to Mount Pleasant in Utah. It's a very small town, and there are lots of open spaces nearby. Bruce has a safe house there that you should fit comfortably in. Iris, you'll be staying just outside Hamilton, Montana. There was just a Park Ranger position vacated at the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness National Park, and the living quarters provided are secluded. Both these towns are ideal for hiding out in; no one will think to look for you there."

Barry nodded. "Cool. I love the Salt Lake desert. Great place to go running and clear your head."

Iris smiled sadly. "The mountains are beautiful this time of year. I just wish we could stay together."

Barry came up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright, Iris. This is the best way."

Iris wiped away her tears. "I know, hon, I just… Don isn't going to remember who I am, Barry. The next time we see each other, he won't remember me. And that's if we ever meet again at all…"

Barry hugged his wife, whispering words of comfort as they stood there. Everyone else pointedly didn't look in their direction.


	3. Chapter One (Part Two)

Dick cleared his throat. "So. Tim, how's your Portuguese?"

Tim shrugged. "Muito bom, por que?" _Pretty good, why?_

Dick typed into the computer, bringing up a map of Brazil. "I hear Rio is nice this time of year."

Stephanie reached out and grabbed Tim's hand. He looked over at her, startled. After a moment, they both looked over at Jesse, as if realizing that they would not, in fact, be alone in Brazil. She waved at them awkwardly, knowing that she would be the out-of-place-third-wheel for the unforeseeable future.

Dick looked over at Bruce. "I assume you already have someplace picked out for you and Damian?"

Bruce nodded. "I have a safe house in London. There are a few people there that owe me favors."

Dick eyed him questioningly, but Bruce's face remained stony, unwilling to tell them who owed him those favors. Sighing inwardly, he turned to Barbara and M'gaan.

"Where do you think we should go?" He asked.

Barbara studied the map. "If we're planning to meet up at some point, we should try to be somewhere that doesn't require air travel. Sneaking through border patrols is easy enough."

M'gaan gestured to the land down under. "That means Australia is out. What about Russia? We could try to find that Red Star guy."

Dick brought up a map of Russia. "That's a pretty good idea. Although, we're going to need fake identities to get there; Barbara and I are on the Russian government's watch list."

M'gaan looked bemused. "And why might that be?"

Barbara blushed as Dick gave her a sidelong look. "Oh, nothing much. Just attempted assassination of the president. And human trafficking. And cavorting with the Russian mob."

Everyone looked at them in shock, including Bruce, which made the rest of them look with even more shock. Barbara waved sheepishly. "I was the attempted assassination thing. Dick was the one involved with human trafficking and the Russian Mob."

Everyone blinked at them while M'gaan stared at the map of Russia. "Maybe Russia isn't such a good idea after all."

Barbara walked up to the computer and bumped Dick aside with her hip. Typing even faster than he had, she marked three spots on the map with red dots. "Here, here, and here are the places that he's most likely hiding."

Bruce looked at the map, then pointed out the fatal flaw in their plan. "Those spots are all right in the middle of the tundra."

Dick shrugged. "Well, the guy with a thermo-nuclear core in his chest isn't going to be overly concerned with the cold. But, we'll manage."

Bruce stared at him, and Dick stared back. Barbara looked between the two of them, mentally rolling her eyes at the testosterone. Changing the topic, she said, "I assume that Alfred will be going with you, Bruce?"

Bruce smiled tightly, and Tim laughed. "That means that Bruce didn't want him to, but he lost the argument with Alfred."

All the Bats in the room chuckled at the thought of the two arguing. It was always a sight to see when they did. Barbara sidled up to Tim and whispered under her breath, "You got the footage off the cameras, right?"

Tim leaned in. "What, you think I'm new? Of course I did. I even got to it before Bruce did, so I didn't even have to recode the trash to get it back."

"You'll send it to me, right?"

"Already hacked into your tablet and put it under staring contests. Nice try with the triple encryption on the firewall, by the way. Took me almost five minutes to break through."

Barbara smirked at him, stepping away. It was a little game they played, hacking into each other's databases and testing the waters. They usually waited for the other to find out about it before gloating, but there would be no next time. As she realized this, the grin slid off of her face.

Bruce stepped up, somehow taking control of the room without having to say a word.

"I've prepared fake IDs, passports, and paper trail detailing your new existences. Iris, Barry, Wally, Bart; your first names are all the same, so as to avoid confusion with the twins, but your last names will have changed. Everyone else, completely new identities."

Damian walked around and handed out folders to each individual, grumbling under his breath about not being some slave for Bruce to order about. One look from his father and he shut up, but that didn't stop him from giving everyone a death glare.

"I have also allotted the money from your old bank accounts into new ones, and I added funds to them in addition to that. You have your choice of moving around or staying where you've currently been assigned, but either way, be careful whom you associate with. They could decide to turn you in if they figure out whom you are, or they could be metas themselves."

Everyone nodded as they looked through their files. Wally looked up questioningly. "So, how are we going to keep in contact with each other?"

Barbara looked surprisingly smug at this. "I'll set up communication systems once we all get where we're going. There will be so many firewalls on 'em that Cadmus couldn't get through with a virtual nuke. And of course, they'll be bounced around every server on the planet, so there's no way they could be traced."

Everyone nodded at her explanation, falling silent once again. Dick looked around and became slightly nostalgic. There was every chance that he would never be in the same room with any of these people ever again.

Barbara noticed the look on his face and wrapped her hand around his, trying to comfort him. Dick smiled slightly, grasping her hand tightly in his. M'gaan looked over at them, bemused, and knowing that she would be the awkward third wheel for the foreseeable future. If only Connor was here, she thought. Then immediately backed away from that thought. She had cried enough for him; no more.

Bruce looked around the room. "It's been… a pleasure working with you all. I hope that someday…"

Of course, Barry had to go and ruin the moment. "Oh my god, are you trying to say you'll miss us? Awww, Bats!"

Barry rushed over and hugged the now glaring Bat. "Don't push it, Allen."

Barry stepped back, shrugging. "Well, I figured you can't do anything now that we're facing imminent death, so it was now or never."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, making Barry turn pale. "You wouldn't, right? Right!?"

Turning away from the annoying speedster, he turned to his various protégées. None of them had to say anything; they all knew what they felt. Dick, however, thought that this called for a slightly less stoic touch, and rushed at his father, hugging him tightly around the waist.

"Surprise group hug time!" he cried, not letting go even though Bruce oozed irritation. Barbara rolled her eyes at her friends antics, but walked over anyway, hugging her longtime mentor with her friend. Tim and Stephanie joined in as well, dragging Cassandra along with them.

Damian was the only one who refused to participate, a small frown on his face. "I will not engage in such desperate acts of affection, as I feel nothing of the sort for any of you, and-"

The little demon was cut off as, to the shock of everyone else, Bruce pulled him into the group hug. He struggled for a moment, but then relaxed into it, muttering under his breath about cruel and unusual punishment.

After a moment, Bruce cleared his throat, and they all let go. Looking over them all, he allowed a small smile. "Good work."

Their eyes shined because they knew what he was really saying. Barbara smiled back, trying to remember this moment. Bruce had been such a driving force in her life for so long; never seeing him again would be difficult.

Wally walked over to Dick, and they hugged in that weird hand-clasp-back-patting-thing that guys do. "May the force be with you."

Wally grinned, and put up his hand. "Live long and prosper, bro."

Rolling her eyes, Barbara walked over and embraced Wally, then pulled back and smirked at the two of them. "Now, see? That's what a **real **hug looks like."

As soon as she let go, Bart rushed over and squeezed Barbara around the waist, making her stumble a bit. His eyes closed, he whispered, "I'll miss you, Oracle."

She looked down at him in confusion. "What did you say?"

He smiled sadly, with more pain than any sixteen year old ad any right to. "Nothing. It's been crash, guys. Don't get mode-ed, all right? I don't want to have to stage another prison break. One was plenty."

Everyone looked at him quizzically, but he pointedly ignored them.

Wally walked over to M'gaan. "Hey, Megalicious."

M'gaan laughed. "Oh, Wally."

They hugged briefly, and then Wally went to stand by Barry. He teared up as he hugged his Uncle. "Bye, Uncle Barry. I'm going to miss you."

Barry ruffled his hair, his eyes a little wet himself. "You too, Kid."

Bruce started to move towards the Zeta-Tube, realizing that prolonging it any more would just cause it to hurt more than it already did. Wally, Iris, and Dawn walked up first. Bruce typed into the computer, and the machine whirred to life.

Wally turned back and looked out the viewing deck of the Watchtower. "I'm gonna miss this place." Squaring his shoulders, he walked into the Zeta-Beams.

"Recognized: Kid Flash B02; Iris West A06; Dawn West-Allen A12."

Dick watched as his best friend disappeared, feeling it like a bullet to the chest. He reached out to Barbara this time, clutching her hand to him as tightly as he could.

Cassandra went next, but not before turning to bow to Bruce. "Good-bye, sensei. Corruentem ante hostes fortitudine tua."

Bruce bowed back to her, and she stepped foreword into the light, and back into the Shadows.

Barry, Bart, and Don came up next. Barry smiled at Bruce. "The clubhouse was cool, while it lasted. Thanks for having my back all those years."

Bruce gave him a nod and typed in their coordinates, watching them as they left. Tim and Steph came up, and Steph couldn't resist giving him another hug. Bruce let her for a moment, and then gently removed her. "It's time to go."

She smiled sadly. "I know. These have been the best two years ever. Hopefully we'll see each other again."

Tim nodded to them, not one for words that had already been spoken.

Bruce finally looked over at Dick and Barbara. They looked back at him, remembering the nights they had spent swinging through Gotham, their own dark little family. Stepping up to their mentor, the two couldn't find the words to express what they were feeling, but they knew that Bruce understood. He was never the touchy-feely type, anyway.

Barbara leaned over and ruffled Damian's hair, causing him to frown and swat her hands away. She smiled at him. "Don't be too awful, demon. Bruce can only handle so much before he'll collapse into a puddle of defeat, and that's never a pretty sight."

Damian scoffed at the thought of his father crumbling under anything, but he gave the pair a grudging nod of respect.

M'gaan walked up next to them, and Bruce typed into the computer again.

"Recognized: Miss Martian B05; Batgirl B10." The computer paused as Dick hesitated, sparing one last glance to his surroundings. He remembered the first time he had been here, when he was eight. The original league had just moved in, and he had loved being around all of those fantastic people, mortal and extraterrestrial and gods alike.

Closing his eyes, Dick walked foreword, knowing that if he looked back again, he would never leave.

Finally, it was just Bruce and Damian left. Damian looked back when his father didn't immediately enter the commands into the computer, and saw that Bruce was staring out into the abyss, lost in thought with a small smile on his face.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked.

Bruce turned around as his smile disappeared. "Nothing. Lets go."

The computer announced their departure. "Recognized: Robin B33."

As Damian stepped into the light, Bruce paused like his other son had, looking back at memories of the best people he had ever known, wishing he could have done more to save them.

"Recognized: Batman 02."


	4. Chapter 2: Wally, Iris and Dawn: 1

Iris, Wally, and Dawn: 1

As the trio stepped out of the Zeta-Platform, Wally wondered why there was a Zeta-Platform here in the first place. Usually, they were just placed in big cities, or in the hometowns of Leaguers, but as far as he knew, there were no heroes stationed here, which again begged the question of: why?

A dark little voice in the back of his head suggested that Batman had known all along what was going to happen to them, and he had prepared for this moment in advance, but he quickly squashed the thought. Even Bats couldn't have seen something as horrible as this coming and done nothing… right?

Shaking off the thought, he turned to look at his Aunt and little cousin. Iris still had red rims around her eyes, and her hair was a little messed up. For anyone else, that wouldn't be such a big tell, but Aunt Iris was a reporter. When she looked anything less than perfect, you knew something was wrong.

Dawn had a small frown on her face, furrowing her brow into this little v-shape that made Wally want to go "Awww" but he knew better; Dawn had grown out of the 'I want to be cute' phase much earlier than most toddlers. Barry theorized that it was because her brain was as fast as his was, and that her mental capabilities were beyond that of her three year old body. How far beyond, though, they could only guess.

Dawn pouted a little. "Where's Don? I want Don! Where is he? Where is he? Where is heeeeeeee?"

Unfortunately for his ears, she had not yet outgrown the whining phase. Iris looked like she was about to cry again at the question, so Wally jumped in.

"Don is staying with Daddy for a while. Don't worry, you'll see him again… soon."

Dawn crossed her arms. "How long is soon?"

Wally opted to ignore her in lieu of figuring out where they were in the extremely small town. Looking around, he didn't think they were in town at all, but had in fact landed in an abandoned factory just outside of town. He had noticed it on the map earlier.

Iris sucked in a deep breath, and then leaned down and grabbed her daughter's hand. "Okay. Let's go."

Wally went out first, and immediately saw a silver SUV waiting outside. It looked like the equinox, but he couldn't be sure. When he jogged over to the car, he found the door unlocked. After rummaging around, he managed to find two burner cell phones, an address written on a note card, the papers putting the car in their name, and the keys.

Jingling them triumphantly, he hopped into the driver seat and started the vehicle. Iris moved and opened the side door and, sure enough, there was a car seat exactly Dawn's size strapped in. Bruce really did think of everything.

Iris walked to the other side of the car and got into the passenger side. Looking down at the card, Wally felt a kind of weight settle down on his chest. They were really doing this; they were moving away from everything they knew and everyone they loved for the sake of some crazy rouge division of the government. And now he didn't even know how to get to the address on the card. As reality really set in, he felt the urge to either laugh hysterically or cry for a really, really long time; neither of which were appropriate right now.

Iris rummaged around in between the seats and the center console, and shouted "Aha! I knew he would have put this in the car!" She pulled an atlas out and flipped to Montana, tracing the roads and trying to find out which direction they should go.

Wally tried to cover up his desolation about the whole situation by asking the obvious question. "Do I even want to know how Bruce got this here? Or how it didn't get stolen even though the thing was unlocked?"

Iris smiled. "Well, I think the answer to the second question would be, this is Montana. Not really anyone out here to steal it."

Wally shrugged. "It could have gotten hijacked by some bears or something, I don't know."

Dawn leaned foreword. "Why would the bears want a car? Can't they just walk? Can they even drive the car? Was this a bear car? Did you steal it from the bears, Wally?"

It was amazing she got all of that out without having to take a breath. Or, maybe not, considering who her Dad was. And her Mom. And her favorite cousin. And her… nephew? Okay, so maybe not so amazing after all.

Iris answered without looking up from the map. "No, sweetie, they can't drive cars."

"Oh." She was quiet for a beat, then asked, "Can I drive the car? I want to drive the car!"

"No, Dawn."

"Please?"

"I said no."

"But I said please! You always says it's the magic word, but if I say please and I can't drive the car, how's it magic? If it was really a magic word, you would let me drive the car."

Wally fought the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel, knowing that he would have to get used to it if he was going to be living with Dawn for…

Dang it! Now he was thinking about it again. Okay, that's fine, just don't think about—God, now he was thinking about Artemis! Whatever you do, just don't cry. Don't cry, it will upset your Aunt and then Dawn will start crying, and then you'll be in a car full of crying women and no one wants that, so please, just don't—

"Wally, are you okay?"

Dangit! Wally wiped the offending tear from his cheek. "Yeah. Have you found out which way we're going yet?"

Iris gave him a look that said she knew what he was trying to do, and it wasn't working, but she was giving him a free pass just this once. "I think so. Just pull out here and go left."

Wally followed her instructions, and soon they were miles into the woods and mountains that seemed to go on forever. It was beautiful out here; the mountains and the cloudy skies. The winding road was a little harder to navigate, but he had a handle on it pretty quickly.

Dawn started yawning after about five minutes. She had missed her nap earlier, and hadn't slept well the night before. If they were lucky, she would be asleep by the time they got there, and they could avoid Dawn being just old enough to have information to give them away to the locals, but not enough to stop her from telling said locals.

The rhythmic motion of the car lulled her to sleep soon after that, leaving the car blissfully silent. Aunt Iris fiddled with the radio for a moment before finding the one station that wasn't a weird mix of country and Christian rock.

They drove along peacefully for a while, at least until the song was interrupted.

"We interrupt this broadcast with some breaking news. I have just received word that the fugitive known as "Static Shock" has just been apprehended. Amanda Waller confirmed this in her statement just a few minutes ago, but was still unable to confirm the whereabouts of the two groups known as-"

Iris leaned over and turned it off, leaving the car deathly silent as they both thought about the implications of that. Wally hadn't known that Virgil was still out there; maybe if he had just been captured, it meant that the other Runaways were still out there. He stopped himself before he could go any further along that line of thinking. His job now was to keep his head down and his family safe; what was left of it, at least.

Aunt Iris covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle the sobs that were coming over her like waves because she knew it would wake up Dawn, and she needed her sleep.

Wally took one hand off the wheel and placed it on his aunt's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Aunt Iris. We'll be fine."

She waved off his concern. "I know, I know. I'm fine."

Wally gave her the same look she had given him earlier, letting the issue go. She attempted to smile at him, but it looked more like she was pressing her lips together in an attempt to stop crying.

The car once again descended into stillness as Wally intensely focused on the road, and Iris on the landscape around them.

After a while, though, he got a little concerned. He knew Montana was big, but was it really this big? Bruce probably wouldn't have put them this far outside of town, in case they needed to make a quick get away.

He shook his head. It was probably fine. It just seemed long because they were separated from all of the people in life that made them happy and safe, and Artemis was with the Shadows and they were going to turn her into a freaky ninja assassin and—

Why does his mind hate him so much? Can't he just go five minutes with some peace of mind? Apparently not, because Aunt Iris chose that moment to gasp and look down at the map.

"Oh, no!"

Wally braked hard, sending them all jerking foreword in their seats. "What? What is it?!"

Dawn started wailing in the back, mad at being woken up from her nap. Wally furtively glanced in the mirrors, making sure that there was no one else around. Man, being on the run had made him as paranoid as a Bat already. Hmm… if this makes him paranoid as a Bat, what does it make the Bats?

Aunt Iris smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, hon. I just realized that we were going the wrong way."

Wally gave her a deadpan look, then lowered his head and bang it on the steering wheel a few times for good measure. When he was done giving himself a headache, he looked over at her and said, "You know we're on the run, right? You can't go freaking me out like that, Aunt Iris!"

"Hey! You watch your tone, young man. You may be twenty three, but that doesn't mean that I'm not your Aunt anymore, and you'd better act like it!"

It was Wally's turn to smile sheepishly. "Sorry, Aunt Iris."

She gave him a hard look that softened into a smile. "I know we're all a little on edge about…this, but that doesn't mean we can act like-"

"Mommy, why are we on the run?"

Wally and his Aunt looked back at Dawn in horror, knowing that she would never let this go.

"Ummmmmm…."


End file.
